Kirill Relikh Shines, Stops Lopez in Monaco

By Alexey Sukachev

WBA/IBF #10 rated light welterweight Kirill Relikh came back in action yesterday at Gymnase du Lycee Technique de Monaco, Principauté de Monaco, Monaco. Relikh was the headliner of a tiny card, organized co-jointly by a former superstar of the very same weight class in Ricky Hatton and Philippe Fondu of the World Sport Promotions.

Relikh (20-0, 18 KOs) of Minsk, Belarus, proved his power once again, dominating and outboxing Argentinean opponent Christian Ariel Lopez (18-3-1, 10 KOs) before stopping him in the fifth round. Relikh, 25, defended his WBA I/C title for the first time.

On the undercard, lightweight Adam Little (14-0, 2 KOs) outpointed French journeyman Sylvain Chapelle (14-21-2) unanimously over six rounds. Scores were: 58-56, 58-55 and 59-54 – for Little. Interestingly, Chapelle has never been stopped but he has never scored a stoppage win himself too, all of his 37 fights going the full distance.